Once Upon A Time, I Was Only A Ninja
by Lala to the power of 2
Summary: Before she was Chiyo baa sama, before she was a grandmother, before she was mother, she was only a Kunoichi named Chiyo.
1. Then

Once Upon A Time, I Was Only A Ninja

Chiyo wasn't looking forward to the future. The future held many things that didn't agree with the life of a ninja. Like family.

She was supposed to be getting married soon. An arranged marriage, naturally, as she was apparently 'not getting any younger'. Funny, she thought, that she wasn't old enough to drink but she was 'past due' for a family. Damn the life expectancy of ninjas.

The marriage itself wasn't actually the problem; it was what came with it. Getting married meant starting a family, and, with her being a woman, that meant no more dangerous missions. After all, a mother can't risk herself so easily, what would her children do if she died?

So Chiyo, upon marriage, would be reassigned- rather than an assassin, she would be- (shudder)- a _teacher._ Yippee. After all, she had only spent years perfecting death; _of course _the next step would be watching over a bunch of brats as they hurt themselves with large wooden death traps. Maybe she shouldn't have joined the Puppet Troupe.

After all, unlike the other puppeteers, she hadn't joined because she was an artist or performer, or even because she liked marionettes. She was just looking for a fighting style that used her her particular talents- because she was good at chakra control and (like all women) manipulating people, and the only things one could do with that were Genjutsu, Medicine, and Puppeteering.

Quite generally, Genjutsu was far too inefficient for her tastes; she was really more the direct type. Why bother messing with someone's mind when running them through with a katana is so much faster?

And medicine? Well, that was easily ruled out by the fact that Chiyo despised medical ninjas. Bunch of hypocrites, the lot of them; living oxymorons. A ninja kills people, that's their job, that's what they do. A doctor saves people, and does everything they can to help. These two careers should not mix- how the hell could someone who's dedicated their life to saving people possibly be an effective shinobi?

Bah! It didn't matter- she was what she was and hell if that was going to change; family or no.

Yes, Chiyo decided, to Hell with the whole damned village- they train her to be a ruthless killing machine, and then expect her to roll over and submit to a life of tedious domesticity at the drop of a hat! Who did that damned Kazekage and his council of idiots think they were, anyway?

No, she wouldn't let anyone tell her who to be- she was a Shinobi first and a woman second, and she didn't plan on that changing anytime soon.

So, she would get married- there was no avoiding that, even if she got out of this particular wedding it would only be a matter of time before she ended up tying a knot, anyway. Then she would get the child-rearing out of the way, because that was even less avoidable (that and the fact that she wouldn't be able to use her poisons while pregnant, so she might as well get that over with while she was still assigned to her hell-hole of a teaching job.) But after **that- **then hell bar her from her returning to her true calling- death, destruction, and all other things associated with the life of a ninja.

Yes, Chiyo thought. She would shape her own future, and there was no need to worry about what would come next.

After all, she had her whole life ahead of her.


	2. Now

And Today, I Am Only A Bitter Husk Of Something That May Have Once Been Human

She was old. That was undeniable, and quite generally really very obvious.

She had lived a long life- longer than most shinobi; only Legends made it past fifty, and she had hit that roadblock a long time ago.

In all this time, though, she hadn't had any regrets; there was a good deal of resentment, but no regret- not until now, anyway.

It was strange, really, seventy-odd years as a ninja and she hadn't faltered until now- until meeting this kid.

And a kid was what he was, really; she had a corn on her toe that was older than this brat, for god's sake!

But what the spawn of the White Fang (who's name escaped her) said was definitely true- this boy had a gift.

She had known him for four days, and he had made her question the way she had been living her life until this point.

Until now, she hadn't done what she felt was _right_, she had done what sounded convenient, what sounded reasonable, what sounded safe, and what sounded beneficial. Right or wrong never crossed her mind- she was a shinobi, after all.

And it's true, when she thought about the decision to make the Yondaime's son into a Human Sacrifice before, she had thought of it as 'an error in judgement'.

Now, though… Only now did she realize the impact of her mistake. Only now did she truly _regret_.

But, in her lamentation, she also found another new feeling.

_Hope._

Hope for the future, hope for her country, hope for humanity.

If a kid like this could make a bitter old wretch like _her_ change her mind, _imagine_ what he could do as Hokage; the people that would be impacted, the lives that would change.

Actually, he hadn't only influenced her as it was; he had already turned the other one from a homicidal maniac into an altruistic Kazekage… In fact, now that she thought about it, in the short time since he had come to power he was already the best Kazekage she had seen so far, at least when it came to the people's attitude.

Yeah, with those two in charge things would be different, that's for sure. Heck, they might even be able to clean up humanity a little. The world might actually become a worthwhile place.

When she thought about it, she knew that this future, this hope-filled future that was in all likelihood no more than a lovely daydream; this was something Chiyo would give her life to see realized.

In fact, she might end up doing just that.

Hell, when she heard what that idiot grandson of hers was up to she had had no intention on returning to Sunagakure alive, anyways; she might as well give it up for something she believed in a little more than a shallow blood tie, right?

And after all, that's what a ninja is supposed to do, isn't it? Sacrifice themselves for the good of their country? For their leader? Did a ninja's life notlie in the hands of their Kage? Should it not also work the other way around, as well?

And besides. She was the only one who could do this. If she didn't, the Godaime would be dead. She was the _only _person who could give him his life. And more importantly, she _could._

Besides, hope is a good thing to have, and considering the lack of it in the world, she'd say that hope is the perfect thing to give your life for.

For once, Chiyo knew she was doing the right thing.

* * *

Alright, that's that. This was supposed to be a one shot, so that's why the two chapters are so… different, but hell, I figured if I have the idea, I might as well put it down, right? I mean, you guys wanted me to right more, and quite generally… I could. So I did. And now I'm done.  
Sorry if this half isn't as good as the last, but heck, the world needed more Chiyo-baa-sama, no matter what form it came in.

Huzzah for ass-kicking old ladies.


End file.
